White Sox late rally made possible by Rodón

CHICAGO -- Andrew Vaughn will be portrayed as the hero in the box score or game notes from a 6-1 White Sox victory over the Blue Jays on Tuesday night at a raucous Guaranteed Rate Field.

The rookie deserves his share of credit, launching a Statcast-projected 395-foot sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded and none out in the eighth to push home José Abreu with the go-ahead run. That RBI ignited a five-run frame during the South Siders’ Major League leading 24th victory at home.

Vaughn also cleared the fences to tie the game with one out in the seventh, spoiling Blue Jays starter Robbie Ray’s 13-strikeout gem via that blast to right-center.

But during his postgame Zoom session, White Sox manager Tony La Russa also pointed to the work over five innings from starting pitcher Carlos Rodón in holding the Blue Jays to one run despite numerous scoring opportunities.

“All hail Carlos Rodón,” La Russa said. “What he did those first five innings to keep it at one run, he's the star of the game and everybody knew it. The bullpen did a good job, but Carlos, just an amazing five innings. This wouldn't have happened without him."

“I've had games like that when I'm out in the second inning with nine runs and I'm hitting the showers,” Rodón said. “Pitching in games like that before, I think I've learned a few things on how to get out of those jams."

That fifth and final inning was fairly symbolic of Rodón’s entire performance.

Blue Jays rookie Riley Adams opened the frame with a double to center for his first Major League hit, marking one of the five hard-contract drives with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph off Rodón, according to Statcast. Adams moved to third on Marcus Semien’s groundout, setting up the heart of Toronto’s order to build on a 1-0 lead.

Bo Bichette, who already had recorded two hits off Rodón, battled six pitches before taking a 99.9 mph fastball for a called third. The fifth pitch of the at-bat checked in at 99.2 mph. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drew a seven-pitch walk and Rodón fell behind Teoscar Hernández at 3-0 before Hernández swung at a 97.7 mph fastball and flied out.

Bichette’s one-out at-bat drew Rodón’s focus after his hard-working no-decision.

“I knew I needed a strikeout,” Rodón said of his fifth-inning mindset, finishing the night at 106 pitches with eight strikeouts and two walks. “Bichette's a great hitter. He catches up to velocity. I think he hit a changeup off the plate the previous at-bat that he hit for a double.

“He was in another two-strike count in the first at-bat where he hit a fastball up in the zone and just took his hit. Very mature hitter. The situation was to get a strikeout and he worked a count. It wasn't an easy strikeout to get and I was blessed to get that fastball in where I needed it, and we froze him.”

Garrett Crochet pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the victory and extend his scoreless streak to 13 innings pitched over 12 games. Crochet received a little late help from Vaughn and the offense, especially after Ray departed at 6 1/3 innings.

“We have the fight in us,” Vaughn said. “One through 9 and every pitcher we got who goes to the mound. It’s unbelievable. We can go out there and know we have a potent lineup and just got to get our shot.

“Any win we can get, anything I can do to help the team win is huge. I think we can rack up as many of those as we can this year and get us into the playoffs.”

A win such as Tuesday’s comeback, against a potent lineup on a night not looking as if it belonged to the White Sox, gives thoughts of greater accomplishments than simply reaching the playoffs.

“It's the kind of game that teams that contend win,” La Russa said. “Just the commitment to play nine innings, you see what happens.”

“They didn't care about the results prior to the upcoming at-bats and then they made some big hits and we scored runs,” Rodón said. “They turned the page pretty quick and that's the kind of offense we have. They can spark up in a second."